Wren Kitz, Cassette Tape
Natural History, Vol. 2. 2024
Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire
The second volume of Wren Kitz’s 'Natural History' series transports listeners seven miles off the coast of New Hampshire to Star Island.
Home to one of the last original Grand Hotels, the Oceanic, visitors flock to this small craggy island every summer in search of a brief reprieve from life on the mainland. Steeped in tradition, ritual, and various connectivities, the many individuals and communities who visit have developed an uncanny relationship to Star Island, often referring to it as their "Spirit's Home.”
Along with the inescapable sound of waves crashing on Star Island's granite shoreline, Kitz introduces and ambles listeners through various subtleties and sometimes crude details of Star Island's acoustic landscape in both daytime and nighttime.
Dedicated to Josh Stedman
Recorded by Wren Kitz to tape on Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire. Summer 2023.
Tape artwork by Abbey Meaker and Wren Kitz
©2024
Natural History, Vol. 2. 2024
Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire
The second volume of Wren Kitz’s 'Natural History' series transports listeners seven miles off the coast of New Hampshire to Star Island.
Home to one of the last original Grand Hotels, the Oceanic, visitors flock to this small craggy island every summer in search of a brief reprieve from life on the mainland. Steeped in tradition, ritual, and various connectivities, the many individuals and communities who visit have developed an uncanny relationship to Star Island, often referring to it as their "Spirit's Home.”
Along with the inescapable sound of waves crashing on Star Island's granite shoreline, Kitz introduces and ambles listeners through various subtleties and sometimes crude details of Star Island's acoustic landscape in both daytime and nighttime.
Dedicated to Josh Stedman
Recorded by Wren Kitz to tape on Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire. Summer 2023.
Tape artwork by Abbey Meaker and Wren Kitz
©2024
A. Daytime
On the Rocks, Facing East
'You Did Come Back' Chant
Truck Trestle/Truck Crew on the Kitchen Loading Dock
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Repairing Breakwater 1 Between Star and Cedar Islands
Banjo Player on Baker Porch
Power House
Chattering on the Pier
No Swim Beach
Beebe Cemetery Trench
Gosport Chapel
'Landlocked' by Celia Thaxter Excerpt Read by M.V. Thomas Laighton Tour Guide
B. Nighttime
Gosport Chapel Procession
Summer House
Perimeter Rd. Between Eastern Memorial Building and Doctors Cottage
The Dump
Walking the Perimeter Rd.: Art Barn to Stone Village
Walking the Perimeter Rd.: Shack to Truck Trestle
Rain and Gosport Chapel Bell from Oceanic Hotel Room 25
The End of the Pier
On the Rocks, Facing East
'You Did Come Back' Chant
Truck Trestle/Truck Crew on the Kitchen Loading Dock
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Repairing Breakwater 1 Between Star and Cedar Islands
Banjo Player on Baker Porch
Power House
Chattering on the Pier
No Swim Beach
Beebe Cemetery Trench
Gosport Chapel
'Landlocked' by Celia Thaxter Excerpt Read by M.V. Thomas Laighton Tour Guide
B. Nighttime
Gosport Chapel Procession
Summer House
Perimeter Rd. Between Eastern Memorial Building and Doctors Cottage
The Dump
Walking the Perimeter Rd.: Art Barn to Stone Village
Walking the Perimeter Rd.: Shack to Truck Trestle
Rain and Gosport Chapel Bell from Oceanic Hotel Room 25
The End of the Pier